Pain Taken, Pain Hidden
by Jeice Lover
Summary: Middle school complete, the girls move on to high school. Namely, one True Cross Academy. Everything seems normal, and things are peaceful in both the Real World and Otherworld. But, when Yomi meets a boy at the school, she finds that everything may not be as normal as first believed. And what happens when a new person appears in Otherworld? The boy is connected to it all, but how?
1. Chapter 1

Out on a ledge, the air was still as death, not even the slightest breeze moved it. It wasn't chilly, but it wasn't warm either. That was how it always was here in the Otherworld. The girl on the ledge put her foot up on a rock, getting a good look at the surroundings. She stared out at the seemingly endless landscape. In possibility, it was endless. In Otherworld, there was no beginning, and there was no end to things. Everything here just was, nothing else to it.

She didn't know what made her do it. A scent on the breeze. A change in the air. Or perhaps it was just some unexplainable sixth sense that was instilled in her from years of battles and scrimmages. Either way, she turned and looked behind her, long black pigtails whipping around as she did so.

It wasn't Dead Master who stood behind her. Nor was it Chariot or Strength. However, someone was there. Unlike the other beings in Otherworld that she had met, this stranger appeared to be a boy. His clothing was somewhat similar to hers. He wore a long, black jacket that seemed hooked around his neck and flowed down to about his knees; his hood was pulled over his head, obscuring his face so she couldn't see it. Except for the closed area around the neck, the jacket was open, and she could see that he wore no shirt underneath. His chest was bare, his skin as pale as her own. He wore a pair of tight, black pants with a plain belt, along with a pair of simple boots. In his fist, she could see two chains clutched between his fingers.

Her vibrant blue eyes followed the black chains, similar but different to the ones that Dead Master controlled. At the end, she saw two large, black cats. They appeared similar to panthers, but had long, gleaming teeth like a saber-toothed creature's. They stared at her, with gleaming eyes, growling neither threateningly nor in a friendly way. They only growled, as was their nature. She looked back at the boy, he still stood there, looking at her.

Eventually, she turned away. She saw no threat in this boy, and knew she was in no danger from him. She continued looking at the landscape, watching the horizon. She didn't even care when she sensed instead of heard his silent footsteps as he walked up next to her. His jungle cats didn't follow, but stayed in one place, the chains clinking loosely as their master walked ahead. He stood right next to her, shoulders straight and face as blank and emotionless as hers. Out of the corners of their eyes, they looked at each other, silently expressing a mutual interest for each other. Not interest as in infatuation, but simple curiosity that comes from meeting a new person.

The flame in her left eye lit as they looked each other over, she used it to check for any sign of weakness. The boy didn't even blink. He just looked at her. For a second, vibrant blue met a hazel so bright that was almost red in color. Seeming to find what he was looking for in her, he nodded as if in approval. She returned the gesture, but soon became distracted.

Flexing her fingers, she stepped out further, to the very point where the ledge fell off into empty space. There were going to be battles coming, she was sure of that. Her weapon formed on her arm, not even hampering her with its' massive weight and bulk. Making one more nod, she jumped off of the cliff, ready for whatever came to her. As she fell, she chanced a glance back at the stranger. He stared back at her. For a second, she could have sworn she saw a spark in his eye, something lonely, pleading. Then, by some unseen force, he was jerked away and out of her sight.

Black Rock Shooter turned back just in the nick of time and landed feet first before jumping to the next rock. What the boy did didn't matter to her at the moment. He was of no immediate concern, and she could afford to discover what he had to do with anything another time. For now, she had more pressing matters to attend to at the moment. Readying her Rock Cannon, off she went.

–

Mato jerked as she awoke, feeling a hand on her shoulder. Looking, she saw the green eyes of Yomi were looking at her worriedly.

"Mato, is something wrong?" Mato took another second before she really woke up, then smiled at her friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry." Yomi looked her in the eyes seriously.

"... Was it Black Rock Shooter?" Mato faltered a bit at that. After the whole incident with Strength and Yuu, she had told Yomi the whole story, about her connection with BRS and everything else that happened in the Otherworld. It had taken time, but Yomi had believed it whole heartedly, even seeing her other self once or twice in a dream not unlike Mato's.

"Yeah, but it's nothing important. Looks like there's someone new there, though." Mato looked confused.

"Someone new? Like, another other-worlder?"

"Uh-huh. But this one is a guy. Weird huh?" Yomi nodded. "I mean, I've never seen a guy in the Otherworld, just us girls." A little rustle drew her attention, and she saw Kagari slowly sitting up, blinking sleepy eyes slowly.

"Are we almost there?" Mato looked at the streets the train was passing and nodded.

"Yeah, we should only have a half hour to go." She smiled widely, pumping her fists in the air. "Aren't you guys so excited? Not only are we all getting into True Cross Academy, one of THE BEST schools in the country, we're all going together! I can't wait!" This was true, pretty much all of them were getting into True Cross. Yomi and Mato had both gotten in via scholarships, Yomi for art and Mato for her basketball playing. Saya had taken up a counseling job at the school, so Yuu was going by default. Kagari didn't really care about the school, she just wanted to be near Yomi. So when Yomi told her she got in, Kagari told her parents that was where she wanted to go (her family was fairly wealthy, after all, so she was able to pay to get in).

Kagari nodded, still a bit groggy at just having been woken up from her nap. Quietly smacking her lips a bit, she reached down and into her bag, pulling out a plastic baggie full of colorful, home-made macarons she had brought with her as a snack to share for the trip. She reached in and pulled out a pink one that she promptly put in her mouth. She held it between her teeth, most of it still outside of her lips, and held out the bag to Yomi and Mato. They both took one and nibbled on them as they looked out the window.

"I just wish," Mato said around her sweet, "that it hadn't taken so long for the paperwork and stuff to be processed. Now we're going into school three weeks late." Yomi nodded as she took another offered macaron from Kagari.

"Yeah. Well, at least we'll be seeing Yuu and Miss Saya there, so we won't be completely alone." She looked at Kagari with a smile. "Kagari will probably make new friends the day we get there." She didn't look jealous or spiteful as she said this. She was only stating a simple fact, and one that she was happy about. Kagari shrugged a bit, holding out the bag for Mato to take another sweet when she saw that she had finished hers.

"Yeah," she mumbled as she pulled out a green macaron. "But I won't forget about Yomi. Or Mato." She hugged Yomi slightly as she held her baggie of sweets. "Yomi and Mato are my friends, I don't want to forget them again." Like with Yomi, Mato had told Kagari all about Otherworld. Kagari had, surprisingly, been more quick to believe the story than Yomi had. Then again, Kagari had always seemed a bit strange, so it could have been that she may already have had some slight suspicions about what was going on all the time. "Yomi and I will still be friends. I'll make sure of that. I love Yomi." Yomi smiled slightly as she petted the back of her friend's head.

"And I'll be sure to leave plenty of time for you, Kagari," she said with a smile. "And Mato, I have my copy of Li'l Bird Li'l Bird, so we can all look at that together." They both looked up, startled when Mato gasped. "What's wrong?" Mato looked about ready to jump up and down with joy.

"Guys! Look! We're here!" The two girls sat up and looked out the window, amazed by the sight of the school. It was so large and... well... colorful. The buildings themselves were all brightly colored and decorated, and they were surrounded by a forest of trees.

"It looks like a fairy tale castle," Kagari murmured. Overhead, the conductor's voice crackled on the intercom.

_**Ladies and gentlemen we have reached the stop of True Cross Academy Town. Kindly stay in your seats until the train has come to a complete stop and be sure to collect all of your luggage before exiting the train. Thank you.**_

"This is it you guys," Mato trilled as she rubbed her hands together. "We're finally here! I'm so excited I could burst!" Yomi smiled gently, then looked out the window at the approaching academy.

_So many colors, _she thought blissfully, _just like the little bird's world..._

–

Mato ran ahead of Yomi and Kagari as they went to their room. Apparently the classes had just let out,

so the courtyard was bustling with students and teachers alike. They were all walking about, mostly in groups, as they either lazed about or went to their rooms or hangout places. Mato wished she had just about ten more pairs of eyes so she could look at everything all at once. She twirled and skipped around a bit as she held her carry-on bag in her hand. Their other bags had been taken to their dorm room from the train.

"Be careful Mato," Yomi warned, "you don't want to run into something." Mato was hardly paying attention. She snapped back to reality, though, when she ran right into someone. The person she had walked into fell on the ground with an 'oof' as Mato herself fell from the interruption in her momentum. She 'ooww'ed quietly as she rubbed her backside. Yomi looked worried while Kagari just continued to give her that same blank look she always did.

"Yomi warned Mato," she said softly. Mato looked up suddenly, seeing that some of her things had scattered around the immediate area when her bag had flown open when she hit the person. She yelped and got onto her knees, gathering up her things as she apologized profusely to the person she had run into.

"I am SO sorry about that! I should have been looking where I was going!" She was stuffing her traveling books and her cell phone into her bag when a hand came into her line of vision. That hand was holding a book that she had missed, so she took it and looked at the one she had run into, also the one who had just helped her. He was a small boy, he must have been shorter than Mato herself. He had a shaved head and thick red glasses that magnified his bright, hazel-red eyes.

"It's fine, really. I should have been paying attention to where I was going." He stood up and dusted himself off, then offered a hand to help Mato up. She took it gratefully and stood up with his help. "Are you three new students?" Mato nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, we just came here today." The boy smiled a bit at her display of happiness.

"Well, I hope you'll have a good time here. It's a big place, so you can get lost easily, but you'll get used to it pretty quickly." Mato started to ask some questions about the school, but someone yelling drew the boy's attention away from her.

"Hey! Konekomaru! Come on, we're gonna' be late!" The bald boy, known as Konekomaru, called back a response.

"I'll be right there!" He turned back to the trio of girls and bowed politely at them. "I have to go now, I hope you find your way around alright. Maybe I'll see you in class, goodbye." With one last, shy smile at the girls, he picked up his own bag and ran off. "Coming Bon!" Mato waved at him, calling goodbyes at his back.

"He seemed nice, don't you think?" Yomi nodded, while Kagari only continued to look blank. They continued walking on their way, though Mato had a strange feeling scratching at the back of her brain. She ignored it, however, when they got to their room. _It's probably nothing. I mean, he seemed like a pretty normal guy, I don't think he could be strange in the slightest._

–

In Otherworld, a hooded boy with hazel-red eyes viewed the black and white landscape. His two black cat companions' eyes were ever-vigilant as their master looked around. From the corner of his eye, he spotted a pair of colors against the mostly-bland landscape. Dots of yellow and green, standing next to each other as they examined the place. The boy examined them for a moment, then turned and walked away, his chained pets following close behind.

From below, Dead Master looked up with vibrant green eyes. Then, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she looked ahead and continued on her way, ready to face any challenge, Chariot following not far behind.

–

So, what do you think? This was mostly a beta-test kind of chapter, to see what people think of the story. If I will continue or not depends on if I get any reviews and what kinds of reviews I get. Just tell me what you think and I will continue on if the waters look clear enough. See you around!


	2. Chapter 2

Yomi smiled as she browsed the numerous shelves of the True Cross Library. Kagari, as she had predicted, had become popular on the first day of class. So, at the moment, her friend was probably surrounded by about ten students who were telling her how cool and cute she was. Mato and Yuu had gone off to help Saya get her counselor's room in order. So, here she was, walking between the bookshelves full of volume after volume of reading material.

At the moment she was carrying a few books she had chosen, among them was her own personal copy of 'Li'l Bird Li'l Bird Colorful Colors'. She carried it close to her, at the bottom of her small pile of selected books. She was heading to the checkout desk so she could bring them back to the dorm. She was so excited about her finds that she started not paying attention.

This was why she didn't realize until too late that she was going to bump into someone.

Yomi let out a soft 'oof' as she ran into a person who was rounding a book-case just as she walked past it. They both fell to the floor, dropping their books in the process.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry!" She got up off her bottom and onto her knees as she tried to pick up all her books as quickly as possible.

"On no, it's fine. It was my fault as much as yours." She stopped when she heard the slightly familiar voice. She looked up, and her eyes widened when she saw it was the same boy who had run into Mato when they first arrived.

"It's you," she found herself saying out loud. He looked at her when she said this and seemed pleasantly surprised.

"Oh, I thought your voice was familiar. You're a friend of the girl I bumped into the other day. Um, was it Kuroi?" Yomi nodded.

"That's right. My name is-"

"Takanashi Yomi, yeah." He smiled nervously when she gave him a surprised look. "Not to sound like I'm bragging, but I have a fairly good memory when it comes to names and faces of people." He picked up another one of his books and smiled nervously again. "I'm sorry, I must be pretty clumsy lately, considering I keep bumping into people." Yomi nodded and continued to pick up her things.

"So, what was your name again?" The boy pushed up his glasses as he reached out again for something on the flood.

"Miwa Konekomaru." Yomi nodded, registering the name to the face in her mind. His first name, 'Konekomaru' got her thinking about cats. This was why she was distracted when she reached for her 'Li'l Bird Li'l Bird' book. She grabbed the corner closest to her and started to pull it towards her, but stopped when she realized that Konekomaru was pulling on the corner opposite of her hand. He seemed surprised by this. "Oh, I'm sorry, is this your book? I thought it was mine." Yomi opened the front cover, then looked at the small drawing she had made in one of the corners when she was little. This was how she knew that it was her book when she was little, and sometimes even now.

"Yes, this one is mine. I think yours is that one there." Konekomaru, as she now knew him, saw his copy of the same book and picked it up. Once they had gathered up all of their books and had stood up, there was a slightly awkward silence between them. Yomi, in an effort to break it, tried striking up a conversation. "So... you like the story about the little bird?" Konekomaru seemed a bit surprised when she asked, then looked with care at his copy, which was at the top of his stack.

"Yeah. I always loved it when I was read this story when I was little. It's one of my most favorite books. Seems kind of silly now that I'm older, huh?" Yomi shook her head quickly.

"No. Not at all. I love this book too." This was a big shock to even Yomi herself, she hardly ever spoke out so suddenly like that. Konekomaru, who didn't know Yomi all that well, smiled carefully as he turned in another direction.

"Do you want to check out your books now?" Yomi nodded and was, gratefully, led to the check-out desk. She had actually been wondering about where it was when she had bumped into him, so it was a great help to her. Once they had both checked out their books, they continued talking, even walking next to each other out of the library. They held up a conversation for a short while, Yomi even felt herself get a bit comfortable talking to him. He seemed a bit soft-spoken, like herself, but he was very nice. She even smiled a bit as their conversation went on.

He had a few features that could easily discern him from others in a crowd or a line. The artist within her examined each one of these unique details. He was rather short, taller than herself by only a couple of centimeters it seemed. His head was shaved close to the scalp, leaving him with only a head-full of hair bristles that made a soft fuzz where hair might have grown out. His face, like his personality, had rather soft features, somehow reminding her of a cat with the softness of expressions. But, the most striking feature of him was his eyes. Though they were magnified by his glasses, so they were most likely smaller than she saw them now, they were a brilliant hazel-red color. They drew her eyes towards them with the magnificent color, she had a sudden urge to try and recreate this color and use it to give life to one of her paintings, the color was so vivid and awe-inspiring to her.

Suddenly, Konekomaru's phone rang and he stopped. He gave her an apologetic look and pulled his phone out of his bag.

"Hello?" He listened to the voice on the other line, though Yomi couldn't hear who it was or what they were talking to him about. However, his face gained a startled expression. "What? It's starting early today?" He shot Yomi a look and then looked at the ground. "Yes, I'll be there in a few minutes. Yeah, okay, yeah. Bye." He hit the end button and looked back to Yomi. "I'm really sorry, it's been good talking to you, but I really have to go." Yomi shook her head, though she felt a pang of disappointment that he had to leave to quickly.

"No, it's fine. If you have somewhere you need to be, then you should go." Konekomaru nodded and began going off.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, my friends and I sit behind you and your friends in class. Maybe we'll see each other then!" He was a bit further away, so he had to raise his voice. Yomi did similar, cupping her hand around her mouth.

"Sounds good. Bye!" He waved at her and took of running, his bag hitting him in the leg with each step. Yomi looked his way one last time, then started off to her dorm to meet up with Mato and Kagari when they got back.

–

Something was different. Dead Master looked behind her, sensing a strange sort of change in the still air. To her left and right, sharp boulders of rock jutted out from the ground, creating a sort of fence on either side. Behind and in front of her was a path made between these 'fences'. The scuffed, black and white checkerboard patterned ground was smooth in the places it was not broken or had rocks jutting up from it.

Silent footsteps brought another living soul into her view. This new being, perhaps as tall as herself, came from behind a dagger-shaped rock formation, pulling two cat-creatures on chains behind him, as this arrival was male. The large, black cats stared at her with fierce eyes, though they were calm, not expectant as predators would be when they spotted prey. The boy's face had a heavy hood hung over it, shielding his features from view. The only things visible from his face were his two, bright hazel-red eyes.

Dead Master, though normally ready with a weapon in hand whenever she saw someone, felt no need this time. This person, whoever he was, had no intention of attacking her. It was something one could only sense. The boy came closer, gripping the chains of his beasts tightly in his fist. The cats themselves stayed in their original position, sitting in a position from which they could easily pounce from.

The two stood at a good distance from each other, respectful of each other as equal adversaries. Eyes didn't narrow and muscles didn't tense. It was only a mutual examination, something that could have something to gain, should it be done correctly. Their eyes met, near-neon-green meeting bright hazel-red. Neither moved, but continued to stare.

_Night Claw_. Those words were not spoken. His name was known to Dead Master just as he now knew her own name. Night Claw's hand made a twitch, not so much a movement as a spasm of sorts. It twitched, almost as if to extend for a handshake, but something stopped him.

Suddenly, the cats stood, looking over their shoulders at something unseeable in the distance. Night Claw turned away from Dead Master, facing the same direction that the cats now faced. He looked back at her and nodded once. Before he could do more, his cats took off running, dragging his feet across the ground for a split second before he gained his footing and ran between them, allowing himself to be led to whatever place he was to be going next.

Dead Master was left standing, alone in the place that had been occupied by four a moment ago, now only by one: herself. She didn't move, she was staring at something. When she finally did move, it was to look in the direction that the strange Night Claw had allowed himself to be led off to. What she had seen was still there on the ground, it's surface fresh and unbroken now.

It was black in color, spotted with specks of hazel-red across it's liquid body. It was not particularly special in and of itself, but Dead Master knew where it came from, which only made it more confusing. The color was the signature color of Night Claw, so it had to be his and his alone. But why it was there was a mystery.

As it was the blood of an Otherworlder.


	3. Chapter 3

Strength opened her eyes, looking out of the corner of them. Something was off. She turned in the direction she sensed the disturbance in, eyes observant and open. She curled her fists slightly and walked forward, prepared for anything. When she had gone a certain distance, she paused and placed her hand on a rock. Still holding it, she peeked around the corner, but then had to jerk back and cover her eyes as a blast of light and energy came at her.

When the light finally cleared from her vision, she removed her hand from her face and looked about. This was a place she had never seen before. It had to be new, as she had seen everything there was to see in Otherworld before this.

It was a strange place. Everything appeared smooth and flawless. The checkerboard floor, which was alternating squares of bright hazel-red and black, was completely flat and seemingly flawless, no scuffs or cracks lined the surface. At random places here and there, strange orbs of the same reddish color floated like ghost lanterns, though they didn't glow, they simply reflected the light off of their surface so much it was as if they were shining.

To her left, Strength saw two more things that stuck out to her. One of these was what appeared to be a single tree. There were no other forms of plant life in this place, just this tree. It appeared to be a cherry blossom tree, with buds in full bloom. But the flowers, like most other things in this place, were that same reddish-hazel color instead of a soft peach-pink. Then, next to the tree was what appeared to be a pond of sorts. There was no breeze of any kind, so the surface of the liquid, the same color of the blossoms on the tree next to it, was like a mirror. Strength approached it and looked down, finding that she could see her red-tinted reflection in the surface.

It was a pretty place, with the vibrant color that dominated all others giving it a life as great as any green forest. However, there was something heavy in the stillness of the air. It was a deep, tense kind of atmosphere here, so different than the light, neutral air in the rest of Otherworld since The Fuse. For just a second, as she took another look at the pond, she could almost hear a voice in the back of her head.

_A pond of blood_.

For just a second, something seemed to flit just below the surface, hidden by the depths. However, before she could examine this more closely, something else caught her eye. There. Behind the strangely colored cherry blossom tree, there was a shadow that shouldn't have been there. A single clink of metal, chains, she thought briefly, sounded in the silence. A spark of red-hazel, even brighter and sharper than the rest of the color around this place. She saw a ripple of movement. The cloth of a black hood. A sliver of a pale face showed around the hazel-red eye that shone out from the shadow of the hood.

"Miss Koutari."

–

Yuu lifted up her head to face the teacher. The man had his arms crossed, an annoyed look on his face. She could hear a few snickers from scattered classmates as she came back to pay attention to the Real World goings-on.

"So good to see you return to us. Now, if you would be so kind as to answer the question on the board for us." Yuu nodded silently and got out of her seat, passing by the rows of other classmates without even glancing at them. She stopped in front of the chalkboard and quickly wrote down the correct answer before turning right around and walking back to her seat. She sat right back down in her seat, right on the end of the row and right next to Mato.

She had to pay more attention in class. It wasn't that she cared so much about the lessons, but she didn't want to look too strange in front of her classmates. Before, she wouldn't have cared so much. But now that she was starting to re-integrate herself with those who inhabited the Real World, she wanted to do her very best, to make up for hiding in the Otherworld for years.

Still, sometimes, when class was lagging, or if she just dropped out for a second, she found her mind beginning to link with Strength's and subconsciously explored Otherworld through Strength's eyes. There had been a lot of strange things going on there lately. Such as the appearance of this strange new Otherworlder. From Strength's knowledge, she drew the name, Night Claw.

She had yet to see this new boy fight, but she could tell that he was hiding something big. He still had his own mini-world connected to the rest of Otherworld. That was strange enough on its' own, but there was something... wrong about it all.

That place had seemed perfect on the surface, but she could sense the darkness that was lurking just underneath the surface. Like some dark water creature swimming within the darker parts of the water, watching and waiting for something to wander in so it could catch it. It was eerie, to say the least.

However, she was not the only one thinking of these things. Just on the other side of Mato, two seats away from her, Yomi was also lost in thought about things in the Otherworld. Her thoughts were on the same, vibrant-eyed boy. The one who was, in fact, sitting right behind her at that moment.

–

Strength, now without Yuu looking through her eyes, continued with her business. In the brief moment when Yuu had broken their connection and she had been distracted, the boy had disappeared from behind the tree. She approached it slowly, placing her hand on the tree's trunk when she came close to it. She lifted her hand up, and found herself looking at a reddish liquid that stained the metal covers over her hand. She looked up and saw a trail of similar liquid, leading away from the tree and out into the distance. She lowered her hand and stared at it, wondering why there would be such a trail of blood, for that is what it was. With a spark of determination in her eyes, she began following it.


	4. Chapter 4

It was all dead quiet, not like there was any other type of sound for Other World to have naturally. A single skull followed her as she walked across the great, empty plane. She halted and looked down from the top of a precipice. At the bottom, among the jagged points of rock, she spotted a lone figure. Something about the figure was pulling, drawing her towards them. With a single bound, she was heading down, prepared to meet whoever was at the bottom of that hole.

–

Yomi groaned as she held her bag over her head, the raindrops bounced off and only partially soaked her head. _Where the heck did all of this rain come from?!_ She yelled with frustration in her head. The rain had started up suddenly, catching her by surprise. She had no time to think, so she was running to find cover. She looked up with relief when she spotted a gazebo with a bench up ahead. She sped up and only stopped when she was out of the rain. She bent over slightly and panted to catch her breath. When she stood again, she carefully took stock of her belongings.

Luckily, the water had not soaked through her bag, so her homework and the other belongings she had stored within were fine, untouched by the rain. This included her art supplies, so she was happy for that. She dug her hand into the confines of the bag, and was quickly disappointed when she found no umbrella within. The forecast had not called for rain that day, so she had neglected to pack one. With a sigh, she reached for her cell phone. It would be embarrassing, but she would have to call one of her friends, or even Miss Saya, if she wanted to get back to her room without getting soaked to the bone.

She smiled when she felt her hand close around her phone. She pulled it out and quickly began dialing Mato's number. _Finally, _she thought, _something is going right for me today._ However, just as Yomi thought this, the screen of her phone was filled with the 'empty battery' sign and went black. She stared at the device for a moment, disbelieving of what had just happened. With another sigh, she stuffed her phone back into her bag. _Well, I guess that's my luck for the day. I suppose I'll just have to sit here and wait for the rain to let up before heading back. I am going to be so late._ With another heavy sigh, she turned to walk and sit on the bench that was under the gazebo's cover.

She halted, though, when she realized that someone was already sitting there. She recognized him almost immediately._ It's Miwa,_ she thought with mild, but not unpleasant, surprise. She would recognize the shaved-headed individual anywhere. She was actually a bit pleased to see him there, she just hadn't expected it. "Um, hello there, Konekomaru," she said quietly as her hand raised in an awkward little wave. When she got no response, she lowered her hand slowly down to her side. After a moment, though, she realized that she didn't have to be offended or embarrassed, as she saw that he was actually sound asleep. _Amazing, he fell asleep here?_ She thought.

Seeing as there was at least half a bench of space left to the side of him, and there were no other benches under the gazebo's cover, Yomi took a seat next to him to wait out the rain with at least a bit of comfort. It soon began to feel a bit awkward, though, with her sitting next to him as he slept. To help alleviate the feeling, she pulled a book from her bag and began to read to pass the time. Her eyes scanned the page as the rain poured down from above, drenching the vegetation and structures. The next time Yomi checked her watch, a half an hour had passed, and the rain hadn't let up one bit. Having finished her book, she began to feel a bit antsy. She was just looking around for something else to occupy her mind when she heard a small sound. She whipped her head around, looking for its' source before she realized that it had come from the boy sitting next to her.

Upon closer inspection, she found that the noise's source wasn't Konekomaru, but was, in fact, the cat that had curled up and was sleeping in his lap. The feline shifted in its' position, obviously trying to get more comfortable. The movement seemed to have disturbed Konekomaru's sleep, as he woke up just a moment later. He sleepily blinked, looking around to figure out where he was, as most people did when they woke up in an unfamiliar place.

"Hm... I must have fallen asleep outside again, looks like it's raining," he mumbled to himself as he rubbed at his eye. He glanced over in Yomi's direction, finally seeming to notice her. "Oh, Yomi, hello there." Yomi smiled, a bit unused to greeting someone under the present circumstances.

"Um, hello Konekomaru," Yomi greeted quietly. She fidgeted slightly, scooting away a centimeter to give him a bit of space. Mind racing, she took a random shot into the water and pulled a conversation topic that seemed like it would be the least awkward. "Er, your cat is very cute." The boy seemed puzzled by what she said, until he looked down and saw the furry animal curled up in his lap. He smiled and shook his head.

"Oh, this isn't my cat. It probably just crawled up onto my lap while I was sleeping. They do that sometimes." Yomi's eyes widened as she heard this.

"Really? It happens that often?" The boy next to her nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, it happens that often. They just seem to be attracted to me for some reason." He gave the kitty a scratch between its' ears, making it purr and rub itself against him. "You can probably pet it if you want, it seems friendly." Yomi slowly reached out until her hand was on the cat's back and gave it a few strokes. The cat responded kindly, purring at her touch. She giggled at the kitty's response. "Oh, did it start raining while I was asleep?" Konekomaru asked suddenly. Yomi suddenly remembered why she was under this gazebo and sighed.

"Yeah. I forgot my umbrella and my phone died, so I'm kind of stuck here until the rain dies down." The boy seemed to ponder this, then smiled in a friendly way.

"Well, if that's all, then I could walk you to your dorm if you'd like." Yomi looked at him, startled by such a kind offer.

"Really? You'd do that?" Konekomaru smiled reassuringly.

"Of course, it's not much, but at least you'll be dry on your way there. It's really coming down out here." Yomi smiled gratefully.

"Thank you, that's really nice." The two of them stood up, Konekomaru gently pushing the cat off his lap, and he pulled out his umbrella from his bag. The two of them stepped under it and set out in the rain. Thankfully, the girls' dorm wasn't **that** far off, so they didn't have to brave the rain for long. Yomi ducked under the overhang cover of the front entrance as soon as they arrived. "Thank you so much, again. I don't know how I ever would have gotten back if you hadn't been so nice." Konekomaru pushed his glasses up his nose and nodded.

"It was nothing, I just like being nice. Well, I've got to go, so I guess I'll see you in class. Goodbye." He waved as he set back off into the rain, Yomi sending him a wave as he went. Unknown to both of them, Kagari sat at the window a few stories above them. Watching the whole scene with narrowed eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

True Cross Academy awoke to another nice spring morning. All of the students were chatting and buzzing in the halls as they walked to their first classes of the day. This involved the girls as well.

"Another beautiful morning!" Mato exclaimed. She looked up and sighed. "The sky it so blue today, isn't it?" The blue of the sky reflected in her eyes, giving them a sort of glazed, yet nicely reflecting look. Yomi nodded to agree, a small giggle escaping her at her friend's habit of pointing out such obvious, yet nice things. Kagari was being quiet, but that didn't matter much since she was usually a bit quiet. But then, she did something that **was** a bit unusual.

"Yomi, I have to go and do something this morning, so I can't walk with you both today. But I'll see you in class, 'kay?" Yomi looked at her, surprised, but then smiled and nodded.

"Sure, go ahead, Kagari. I'll just walk with Mato and Yuu today. I'll see you later." Kagari nodded and walked away from them, only vaguely hearing some conversation about Miss Saya as she got further away. As soon as they were out of both eyesight and hearing range, her smile melted into a more serious expression, then she walked on.

She kept on walking, past crowds of students (some of whom said a quick 'hello' or 'good morning' to her as she passed) until her eyes fell upon the one she was looking for. As she stared at him, he nudged his red glasses up the bridge of his nose, and smiled at a small bunch of flowers blooming in the grass on the side of the path. For once, she saw he was without either the pink haired boy or the boy with the blonde stripe. Without even the slightest hesitation, she walked right up to him.

"Good morning." Konekomaru looked up, wondering who was greeting him. When he laid eyes on her, though, he gave her a polite smile.

"Oh, good morning." Her goldenish eyes stared at him with little emotion, though that didn't deter him from trying to be friendly. "Um, you're one of Takanashi-san's friends, right?" When the girl nodded, he tried to think. "I know she told me about you, what was your name... Oh, was it... Izuriha-san?" Kagari nodded yes, and he offered another smile. "Well, it's nice to meet you in person. How are you doing this morning?" Kagari said nothing, but suddenly came forward and grabbed onto his arm. Konekomaru jerked back a bit at the sudden hold, but she clung to him tightly. A bit too tightly, in fact. Then, she looked him straight in the eyes.

"Walk me to class," she said blandly.

After a pause, he said, "um, sure, I suppose," and they went on their way.

_She stared down at the boy, a look in her eyes that could have only been named predatory. Her grip on her weapon tightened and loosened, her muscles tensing in a steady manner. Then, she lifted up her spiked shield and, soundlessly, she pounced._

As they walked on, Kagari continued to cling to his arm. The students being typical, when people saw the oh-so-popular Kagari walking with the shaved-headed boy that few actually knew by name, they began to whisper amongst themselves. Tidbits usually containing gossip about a possible boyfriend-girlfriend relationship were fast becoming the typical idea. Honestly, though, Konekomaru's mind couldn't have been further from romance, as his thoughts were focusing on how uncomfortably tight his arm was being gripped. As he was about to try and express his discomfort, Kagari spoke.

"You've been talking to Yomi a lot lately, I've seen you." She seemed not to look at him, but rather into the distance. "Yomi is my best friend, she's a nice person," she then looked directly at him with a cold stare, "and I don't want anyone to hurt her." She looked ahead again and down the path they were walking. "...You're a coward, aren't you?"

_Chariot's first attack hit dead on, sending Night Claw staggering backwards. She aimed another attack, but he effortlessly avoided it by flipping backwards, his cats following his movement by their connecting chains._

"Wh-what do you mean?" Kagari ignored him and kept facing forward.

"You heard me, you're a big coward, I can tell. You're afraid to say what you really think. That's why I don't want you near Yomi. You'll hurt her by not being able to say how you feel."

_Chariot slashed again, but this time her attack hit true. The large spikes on her shield jammed into Night Claw's body at full force, some of them piercing all the way through in the thinner parts. Small particles of bright red flew from his mouth, eyes of the same color were open wide with something akin to shock. The cats, though attached, did not seem mindful of this, they only moved to where their master did._

"Isn't that right? Aren't I right?" She could feel Konekomaru's arm tense even more, and it wasn't only from her grip. "So, you'll give up on Yomi now, because I've scared you. Right?"

_Chariot had Night Claw on the ground, her shield lingering over him and barely a centimeter away from the skin. Night Claw's bare chest had a few beads of blood sticking to the ivory skin. His hazel-red eyes stare blankly upwards. Chariot lunged down-_

"That's not true!"

_Night Claw rolled suddenly out of the way, and Chariot's shield met nothing but ground. She looked up and saw him flipping backwards, cats lunging to follow. It took a moment to free her weapon from the dirt, but she lunged as soon as she had it free._

Kagari looked at him in her usual way. "What do you mean?" Konekomaru looked at Kagari directly. Faintly, she thought she could see a vague gear shape within the colors of his irises.

"I mean... well... I... I... I like Takanashi-san." Kagari waited silently for him to elaborate. Inwardly, she marveled that they had been walking steadily the whole time without getting out of step. "She seems like a very kind person-"

_Night Claw moved aside, grabbed Chariot's arm, and flipped her in one quick movement. _

"-and... and I would really be happy-"

_Her shield went flying and landed spikes-up on the ground. Chariot herself landed lightly on her feet, but she was grabbed by the collar and held above the spikes of her own shield._

"-if I could be her friend." Kagari looked at him, and then, slowly, released the death-grip she had on Konekomaru's arm. Said glasses-wearing boy rubbed his bicep gingerly to regain the feeling in it. Kagari took hold of her school-bag in both of her hands and walked ahead of him.

"...Maybe you're not so big of a coward as I thought." She paused and looked over her shoulder at him. "I won't forgive you if you make Yomi cry, so you'd better be nice to her." Konekomaru was silent for a moment, but then smiled gently as he was apt to do.

"Of course. I wouldn't do anything else."

_Chariot stared up into Night Claw's eyes, under his shading hood. Hazel-red bored into bright gold. Gently, Night Claw pulled Chariot back onto her own feet. Not even a spare second of a glance was sent her way as Night Claw turned around and simply walked off, his cats following closely behind. Chariot stared after him, then picked up her shield and went on her way as well._


End file.
